Looking Backward

What The Wave Said20Years Ago...

Community Police Officers Richard Hicks and Liz Curcio were on patrol in the Neponsit section of Rockaway last week when they came upon a suspicious teen walking on private property on Rockaway Beach Boulevard at Beach 149 Street. The teen saw the cops and began to run toward Riis Park. The two cops followed, nabbing him on Beach Channel Drive near the entrance to the Marine Parkway Bridge. It turned out that the teen was wanted for some other burglaries in the area earlier in the month.

“We used more than a mile of yellow ribbon this week,” said Richie and Joey, the owners of the Dragon’s Den Florist on Beach 116 Street. The two had promised to supply free yellow ribbon to anybody in Rockaway who wanted to tie a yellow ribbon around a tree in front of their home or on their apartment terrace. In three days, customers wiped out their entire supply of the yellow ribbon.

Schwindt said that she would make no personnel changes until she had a chance to study all the pertinent information. District 27 Superintendent, Colman Genn, retired late last month after wearing a wire and taping school board members in various attempts to coerce and bribe him.

The three trustees appointed by the School Chancellor to temporarily replace the disgraced Community Board 27, which was suspended for wrongdoing, appointed an acting district superintendent last week. Trustee Fred Woodruff announced that former Deputy Superintendent Josephine Schwindt would fill the position.

Navy Lieutenant James O’Brien is presently serving on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier supporting the troops in the Persian Gulf. His brother, Air Force Reserve Master Sergeant Thomas O’Brien serves with the 439 Airlift Control Flight, operating out of Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts, but has cycled in and out of Saudi Arabia on duty on many occasions. The parents of the two active military men are Bernard and Josephine O’Brien of Dayton Beach Park.

No further fire companies will be closed down as part of the continuing measures to close the yawing budget gap, it was announced by Mayor David Dinkins among cheers at a Rockaway Town Hall meeting.

30Years Ago...

Neponsit resident Peter Sammon has been named a senior vice president of the Howard Savings Bank, New Jersey’s largest bank, with 42 offices in 11 counties.

The building that once housed Samuel’s Pharmacy was gutted by a fire. Now, the owners have rebuilt the structure at Beach 88 Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard. It looks

as if some people are trying to breathe life back into the peninsula.

Speaking of life in the Rockaways, work is progressing nicely on the discoroller rink near the boardwalk on Beach 116 Street. Workers were seen last week putting in the heating and air conditioning units.

Planning for a citywide alcohol detoxification facility at Beach 99 Street and Shore Front Parkway has been suspended due to community opposition to the plan.

40Years Ago...

We wonder if enough of those federal funds will trickle down to Rockaway to do something about the streets on the peninsula, which is becoming one of Rockaway’s largest needs.

Phoenix House, a community-based drug prevention and rehabilitation group, has purchased the former Manor Hotel on Seagirt Boulevard and Fernside Place for a new center. Property that was formerly used as a sanctuary for St. Andrews-By-The-Sea

parishioners is being considered for use as a parking field for guests and diners at the Washington Hotel on Beach 125 Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard.

Since Bill O’Neal no long works for the Chase Manhattan Bank, he has been seen to sport longer locks.

50Years Ago...

The term “concessions” is once again being heard throughout the peninsula. Some landlords are offering two or three months free rental with the closing of long-term leases.

In spite of the best efforts of the local Sanitation Department to clear snow from the streets, it can’t beat the job being done by the Nassau County department. We recently saw eight

pieces of heavy equipment working in unison to clear Doughty Boulevard in Inwood during the recent snowstorm.

Last Thursday’s crash of an airliner departing Idlewild Airport across the bay has led to more calls to “do something” about the planes passing over the peninsula. Problem seems to be that nobody really know what that “something” might be.